Portugal is a perfect destination for walks all year round, with its mild climate, 3000 hours of sunshine a year and over 10,000km of pleasant walking trails, from the mountains to the Atlantic coast.

Located in the extreme southwest of Europe, just a few hours from any of the European capitals, Portugal attracts visitors from all over the world.

The Arrábida Region is a special territory, marked by three lines of mountain ranges, the highest mountain being 500 meters high, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

It is integrated in the municipalities of Setúbal, Palmela and Sesimbra, with about 50 km in length parallel to the sea by 8 km in width. It is located on the south/southwest bank of the Setúbal Peninsula, about 30Km south of Lisbon, capital of Portugal.

MEDIEVAL CASTLE OF PALMELA

Portugal - Overview

Portugal has the oldest borders in Europe, with an exceptional diversity of landscapes within walking distance, many leisure activities and a unique cultural heritage, where tradition and modernity merge in perfect harmony. Its superb cuisine, good wines and hospitable people make this a tourist paradise of the highest quality.

With a population of around 10.5 million inhabitants, the density is higher in Lisbon, the capital and surroundings, where around 3 million people live. The second largest city in Portugal is Porto in the north. There are more people living in the coastal regions of the country than inland.

Most Portuguese are Catholic, but the Portuguese constitution guarantees religious freedom and there are several different religions in Portugal. Religion and different cults are not a problem in Portugal.

With its Latin roots, Portuguese is spoken by around 250 million people on all continents, making it the 5th most spoken language in the world and the 3rd, if we consider only European languages. In Portugal it is easy to find people who communicate in English, French and Spanish.

Where you can you find Portugal

Much more about Portugal at


www.visitportugal.com

Pedestrian Routes in Portugal

Until the mid-1980s, there were no signposted walking trails in Portugal. The practice of hiking in nature was practically confined to associative practitioners, mainly campers with mountaineering sections or Mountain and Climbing Clubs that emerged in this period.

At the beginning of the first decade of the 21st century, there has been a proliferation of signposted walking paths, with financial support guaranteed by EU funds. The main promoters are city councils, parish councils, local and rural development associations, municipal associations and other public and private structures.

From about 2010 to 2012 there was a proliferation of signposted pedestrian routes, not always executed in the most correct way. Many of them were not designed from the point of view of hikers or their tourist use. Most of them do not have information in foreign languages and the roads and signs are not properly maintained.

There is currently a new boost to nature tourism in Portugal with the Instituto de Turismo de Portugal investing seriously in promoting this product and with the promoters of itineraries and networks of pedestrian trails realizing the need for professional involvement in its design, implementation, promotion and sale.

The Territory of Arrábida has had a set of constraints in signaling pedestrian routes, due to lack of understanding between municipal structures, due to inaction of supra municipal entities and because it presents many difficulties at the level of private property.

The safest way to do your Pedestrian Walks will always be in a follow-up system with a Specialized Guide or in a SelfGuided System with routes previously defined by a specialized company.

Traveling to Portugal by Plane
Portugal has an excellent geographical position as a European and Atlantic country. All major airlines fly to Portugal, with direct flights to Lisbon Airport (Humberto Delgado). To Faro Airport mainly charter flights and some low cost companies. In the center of Alentejo is located the new Beja Airport, so far with little commercial flight activity.

Airlines with direct flights to Lisbon Airport

						Check all the information about Portuguese Airports
Portugal	Portugal	aaa	aaa	aaa	aaa	at
TAP PORTUGAL +351 707 205 700 www.flytap.com	SATA INTERNACIONAL +351 707 227 282 www.sata.pt

European Airlines

Spain	United Kingdom	Ireland	Germany	Netherlands	Belgium	Switzerland
IBERIA +351 707 200 000 www.iberia.pt	BRITISH AIRWAYS +351 808 200 125 www.britishairways.pt	AER LINGUS +351 218 925 831 www.aerlingus.com	LUFTHANSA +351 707 782 782 www.lufthansa.pt	KLM +351 707 222 747 www.klm.pt	BRUSSELS AIRLINES +351 707 200 424 www.brusselsairlines.com	SWISS +351 808 200 487 www.swiss.com
France	Norway	Ukraine	Moldavia		aaa	aaa
AIR FRANCE +351 707 202 800 www.airfrance.pt	NORWEGIAN +47 2149 00 15 www.norwegian.com	UKRAINE +351 217 618 994 www.flyuia.com	AIR MOLDOVA +351 213 856 549 www.airmoldova.md
Europa - LowCost	Europa - LowCost	Europa - LowCost	Europa - LowCost	Europa - LowCost	Europa - LowCost	Europa - LowCost
EASYJET +351 707 500 176 www.easyjet.com	RYANAIR +44 871 246 0002 www.ryanair.com/pt	AIR EUROPA +351 213 587 680 www.aireuropa.com	VUELING +351 707 783 939 www.vueling.pt	GERMANWINGS +44 (0) 330 365 1918 www.germanwings.com	TRANSAVIA +351 218 445 170 www.transavia.com	WIZZ AIR 707 500 071 https://wizzair.com

American Airlines

USA	Canada	aaa	aaa	aaa	aaa	aaa
UNITED AIRLINES +351 214 159 102 www.united.com	AIR TRANSAT +351 218 487 741 www.airtransat.com

Traveling to Portugal by Train
The Portuguese railway company, CP-Comboios de Portugal, offers a rail network that covers part of the mainland and also offers international rail services to Vigo, Madrid and Paris.

- The top-of-the-range "Alfa Pendular" trains offer the fastest and most comfortable rail connection between Lisbon and the Algarve and, to the north, Porto and Braga, with a stop in Coimbra.

- The “Intercidades” or Intercidades service covers the Lisbon-Porto-Guimarães, Lisbon-Guarda, Lisbon-Covilhã, Lisbon-Évora-Beja and Lisbon-Faro routes.

- The Sud-Express international train and the Lusitânia hotel train depart from Lisbon to Madrid and Paris.

- There are some suburban train networks covering the surroundings of the main cities, namely the connection from Lisbon to Setúbal.

www.cp.pt/passageiros

Getting to Arrábida by Train
The only solution is to get to Setúbal, which has a central station (Praça do Brasil) and a secondary station (Quebedo stop). Trains arrive at these stations from Lisbon by the company Fertagus and trains from Barreiro (with access by boat to Lisbon) by the company CP Comboios de Portugal.

Fertagus trains make a direct connection from Lisbon to Setúbal departing, at hourly intervals, from Roma-Areeiro, Entrecampos, Sete-Rios and Campolide stations. The same is true in reverse.

www.fertagus.pt/pt/horarios/fertagus

Traveling to Portugal by Bus
You can use the bus to travel from Europe to Portugal, but the journey is long and very tiring. In general, bus prices are not competitive with current air travel offers.

www.rede-expressos.pt

www.tsuldotejo.pt

Traveling in Portugal by Car
Portugal has a good road network consisting of Motorways (AE), Main Itineraries (IP), Complementary Itineraries (IC), National Roads (EN) and Secondary Roads (Municipal).
There are two types of highways:
- Traditional toll roads, where payment is made in cash or with a bank card. These motorways also have Via Verde, which is an electronic toll system that allows drivers to pay by bank debit and is intended to be used only by those who have an electronic vehicle identification device, previously purchased in one of the respective points of sale (www.viaverde.pt).
- Motorways that have exclusively electronic tolls, with toll collection carried out exclusively through this process. As vehicles pass through the toll booths, they are picked up by electronic detectors placed at the entrance to the channels, which are identified with the words “Electronic toll only”. For information on the roads covered by this system and the respective payment methods, see www.tollcard.pt.
Car rental services are available at airports, international train terminals and in major cities.
To rent a car, you must:
- Be at least between 21 and 25 years old, depending on the company's rental policy.
- Show identification - Identity card for EU citizens or valid passport for other nationalities.
- Have a driving license for more than a year.

Car Hire Companies - Rent a Car - in Portugal

EUROPCAR	HERTZ	AVIS	GUERIN	AUTO JARDIM	TURISCAR
+351 219 407 790 www.europcar.pt	+351 219 426 300 www.hertz.com	+ 351 800 201 002 www.avis.com.pt	+351 213 703 400 www.guerin.pt	+351 218 463 187  www.auto-jardim.com	+351 707 28 28 70  www.turiscar.pt